The Forgotten Padawans
by Pat1313
Summary: Ten years after order 66 and the eradication of the jedi order, the few remaining jedi are forced into hiding. One of these surviving padawans is the grey jedi Ashoka Tano, former padawan of Anakin Skywalker, along with her own pupil, pulled from the wreckage of the jedi temple. Now a young she struggles between raising him to be a jedi and keeping him safe from harm.
1. Chapter 1

"Would you get a move on already? It'll be midnight before we get there at this rate!"

Drew could hear the exasperation in his master's voice, not that she tried too hard to hide it he thought. She had raised him since he was seven he was seventeen now, but he'd still never managed to replicate her level of energy and enthusiasm in the decade they'd been together. "Does the path to becoming a jedi really have to begin before breakfast? No wonder you left the order." he sighed back in response trying in vain to wake himself up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. If he'd been a little more awake he might've felt embarrassed after the scathing look she shot him as she hurried down the grimy street in the underbelly of the pristine city of Aldera. A gust of biting wind made him wrap his robe tight around himself in a vain attempt to keep him warm, while also keeping the lightsaber gently bouncing on his hip hidden from view. Ashoka, seemingly unfazed by the elements keeping her head down and hurrying down the street deftly avoiding the disgruntled citizens beginning to pour into the street now that the sun was sitting at a more reasonable position in the sky in Drew's humble opinion. He finally managed to catch up with Ashoka as she paused on a street corner before stepping out of the slums into the bright, shining pride and joy of Alderaan. "Are you planning on telling me what we're doing here at some point?" He asked as he set off at a jog to keep up with her renewed brisk pace. "Patience my young-" she stopped herself with a smirk, "We're meeting a contact of mine who might have information about an imperial shipment of thermal detonators, mines, rockets, etc."

"What exactly are we going to do with an imperial shipment of explosives? Not to mention there's no way we get past the security on a shipment like that without slicing a few stormtroopers."

"We will as long as you decide to listen to me for once."

"I ALWAYS do what you say!" he exclaimed indignantly.

Ashoka scoffed at him as they proceeded down the street occasionally branching off through alleys and smaller roads to the point where Drew was completely lost within minutes, but Ashoka navigated through the winding roads and throngs of people with the ease of someone born on the streets of Aldera.

Eventually they found themselves in front of a building composed entirely of dark tinted glass, which given that it was a cantina seemed like a poor design choice to him. He had seen far too many drunken brawls and flying mugs to trust that those windows would remain intact for long, but he followed his master inside nonetheless. The interior was a bigger shock to his system than the outside had been, it was the cleanest and most impeccable establishment he'd ever seen. The wooden bar was shining, the glass tables scattered all around were gleaming with elegant arched bar stools sitting around each table. The complete lack of loud angry patrons, various shady deals taking place in plain sight, and a dancing pole nearly froze him in the entrance. Ashoka made her way to the bar without a word and he instinctively followed, however, he'd barely sat down before the bartender, a short balding man with rounded glasses halfway down his long slender nose, glanced at him and with a sharp jerk of his head said, "You, off the bar find a table." He opened his mouth to argue with the man along with a few angry taunts, but before the words left his mouth he felt the sharp glare of his master burning a whole in the side of his head. Defeated he grudgingly walked over and had a seat at the table farthest from the bar glaring at his master until she came and joined him.

"I brought you a drink"  
"I've never been denied a seat at the bar before" he replied gloomily.  
"Yeah well this isn't Balmorra the standards are a little higher here for kids in the bar"  
"Kids?!" He gasped indignantly.  
"Young adults, I mean" she told him with a small laugh.

They sat making small talk and joking about their other patrons for a good while. Drew was starting to relax and begrudgingly enjoying the blue virgin drink Ashoka had brought him, when a man wearing a brown cloak with his head entirely covered by a hood entered the bar and started on a direct path for them. He started to reach for his lightsaber, then caught himself and instead decided to rest his right hand on the blaster strapped to his hip. Ashoka noticed this and put her hand gently on his shoulder as she rose to greet their visitor and embracing him in a hug. Drew released his grip on his blaster, but still had a feeling of unease as the stranger sat down at the table directly in front of him, while his master returned to her seat off to his right.

The hooded man looked directly at Drew and pulled his hood back a little while saying, "I haven't seen you since you were a little boy, I see Ashoka here has raised a fine young man."

"Senator Org-!?" Drew cried out, partly because his master had rapped her fist sharply against the side of his head before he could finish the thought.

"Would you shut up? Are you trying to get the senator in trouble?" she hissed at him through clenched teeth.

The senator chuckled quietly at that before saying to the pair of them, "It's quite alright there Ashoka, I get the feeling I might have a slightly more distinguished reputation than your usual informants." Unable to contain himself and a need to satisfy his curiosity Drew in a much more discreet manner asked, "But why are you helping us sir? You're an imperial senator!"

The senator looked almost embarrassed for a moment, taking a quick glance down at his hands on the sleek wooden tabletop before replying, "That is true, however, before that I was a senator in the Republic, I only maintain my position to try to provide a better life for my family and my people, I shudder to think what would happen if I stepped down and let a true Imperial take my place"

The senator gazed thoughtfully at the young man as his words settled in the air, before turning to the boy's master and saying, "This shipment is merely being transferred from one freighter to another at the space port, you'll have to act quickly. The shipment will be guarded from the time it exits one ship until it departs on the other, it won't be easy to get a hold of, however if you can manage it I've chartered a ship called the "Blue Eagle" to escort you and the cargo offworld, they're prepared to evade imperials at all costs. They'll be docked at the spaceport before the shipment arrives, you can't miss it."

Ashoka smiled before saying, "Thank you senator we couldn't pull this off without your help, we probably won't be able to visit you here for a long while after this job."

"Ah well I'm sure our paths will cross again at some point down the line" the senator turned towards the young boy across from him and smiled warmly at him "And you young man will have to tell me about some of your adventures when we meet again".

"Yes sir, I'll tell you about the time I gambled with space pirates, or the time I stole a police speeder, or when I..."

"The key phrase being next time there Drew" Ashoka chided.  
"Oh right... sorry" Drew said sheepishly as he ran his right hand through his long unkempt black hair.  
"I can't wait to hear all about it!" The senator chuckled, rising to his feet and extending his hand. Drew grasped it uncertainly before the senator clasped his hand in both of his and giving him a fatherly smile. He quickly embraced Ashoka again and with a swish of a cloak headed out the door into the busy streets.

"So are you ready to steal some explosives?" Ashoka asked him with her lips curved into her signature roguish grin.

"You know I'm always up for some explosives"


	2. Chapter 2

Once again master and padawan were walking down the winding streets of Aldera. The elegant sparkling skyscrapers stretching as far around as Drew could see, reminding him of a marble forest. Despite the streets being wide the buildings around him at all sides made him feel claustrophobic. He was acutely aware of how dusty and tattered his robes had become in stark contrast with the brightly colored velvet outfits of the locals passing him by on the street. Drew had grown up with the harsh training of a jedi and had never particularly cared about his appearance as a result, but in spite of that he caught himself patting the dust off his clothes and trying in vain to comb his hair in a more dignified way. Ashoka took a glance back at him, catching him in the act and gave him a smirk. "She doesn't look like a model of cleanliness herself" Drew thought sourly. However, he followed his master closely not wanting to risk being left behind on the unfamiliar streets of this pristine metropolis. Throughout their uneventful walk around the city Drew continuously asked Ashoka various questions about the task they were about to undertake. "How are we going to get the shipment? Can we trust this 'Blue Eagle' crew? How much farther? Are we there yet?" Were some of the many questions he flung her way, but no matter what he asked the best answer he got was a call for patience or a very audible exhale.

Half an hour after they said goodbye to the senator master and padawan arrived at the space port. At the entrance they were met by six armed stormtroopers each checking their own lines, scanning citizen's ID's, while they weren't confiscating weapons the scanning creates a large problem for people trying to sneak off the planet with criminal records. He and Ashoka had already discussed how they would fool the customs officers when they first arrived on the planet, but admittedly Drew wasn't overjoyed about his approach. Children under the age of 16 weren't required to board with imperial identification, Drew might've been 17 but he could pass for much younger, however he had to board with his parents. Drew left Ashoka looking for his mark while she moved up in the queue until he spotted a couple who appeared to be in their mid to late forties flanked by a small squadron of young children. He approached them doing his best to convey a panicked expression on his face, admittedly given what he was about to attempt in the space port wasn't overly difficult and said in his best distressed and shaky voice, "Can you please help me find my mom? We got separated at the gate and the troopers won't let me in without an adult?" he added a hearty sniff for good measure. Before he knew it he was being fussed over by the couple and giving their youngest son a ride on his back while their two young girls held onto each of his legs, but he passed the customs officer without a second glance. Once inside he quickly expressed his gratitude to the couple after exchanging holo frequencies with them, shaking the fathers hand, being smothered by the mother, and embracing the children in a group hug before tracking down his master leaning against one of the pillars just outside the entrance to the circular landing zone.

"Did Mommy and Daddy make it all okay?"

"I don't understand why you couldn't just use another mind trick on the guard so they'd let me through with you"

"Oh please with my youthful good looks nobody would believe I could be your mother!" Ashoka told him indignantly, "Besides you need to learn to problem solve without relying on force powers"

"Whatever" he said feeling his exasperation building the longer this conversation went on, "What now?"

"Patience, nothing to do but wait for our shipment"

The hours trickled by slowly as they tried to find ways to discreetly pass the time at the space port. Drew tried to distract himself by taking in the various sights and smells of the vendors scattered throughout the outer ring of this vast circular structure. At one point when his hunger hit a peak he found himself in front of a small stand being worked by an alien species he'd never encountered before that he presumed came from an aquatic world as they resembled a sea creature on two legs. The sign out front indicated he was selling some species of fish, Drew admittedly had minimal experience with fish but the creatures he was selling looked suspiciously like fried womprat. Nonetheless Drew was hungry, the vendor didn't speak any language he understood and thus required a tremendous amount of haggling via miming to get this mystery meal for a reasonable price. Once his meal had been procured he set off to rejoin his master, finding her exactly as he'd left her, meditating in the most isolated bench she could find. How she could maintain her composure at a time like this when he could do nothing but feel his nerves fraying with every bite of his surprisingly delicious mystery "fish" was something he never understood. Her tranquility was ironically making him, if possible, more uneasy. He slowly and quietly extended his index finger towards her ear, determined to break her concentration and get a rise out of her in one move. With his finger about an inch from her ear she snapped her eyes open and turned to look at him suddenly bringing his finger in contact with the bridge of her nose.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing!" He yelped in response. While he was able to sense things with the force himself her ability to never be caught off guard was something he hadn't quite cracked yet.

Without moving a muscle his finger still pressed to his master's nose mostly out of shock, Ashoka says "It's time"

Other than a simple command to follow her lead they moved as one without another word. Ashoka had previously mapped out the location of their escape ship and briefly talked with the captain of the Blue Eagle. However, that seemed like an unnecessary precaution now that they made their way into the hangar of the space port and found a total of three ships waiting on them, the imperial shuttle, a Corellian light freighter, and a much smaller freighter a deeper blue than the most pristine sapphire that could only be the Blue Eagle. The freighter had positioned itself as close to the imperial shuttle as it dared to, but it was still easily sixty feet away. The shipment was at the base of the shuttle's off-ramp surrounded by four armored and armed stormtroopers at each corner of the square cargo container.

Ashoka confidently marched up to the guards completely ignoring that with every step closer they raised their blasters higher towards her, and waved her hand in a calm manner and said "We're here to collect the cargo, you will escort us to our ship." Three of the guards echoed her words, but the fourth looked around bewildered before completely raising his blaster at Ashoka. Drew thrust out his hand, reaching out with the force as if invisible tendrils were reaching out in front of him until they connected with the mind of the guard. Drew saw flashes of the man's life flashing through his mind, his mother, his wedding, his children, how they cried when he was drafted to the imperial military, the images faded and the connection weakened.

"NO I have to do this" he thought to himself, focusing all his energy on bending this mind to his will, he caught more flashes as the guard resisted him before he felt a snap, the images stopped, the thoughts stopped, the guard was his now. The entire mental struggle only lasted a few seconds but it had drained him like nothing before.

Through the haze of his sudden exhaustion he heard Ashoka, "Good job, but we've got to move now!" He communicated that to his guard and along with the other troopers they began a brisk march towards the Blue Eagle. Drew's heart was racing, they were actually going to do it he thought!

"HALT!" Came a slightly muffled shout popping every happy notion that had been swimming around his head previously. He glanced towards the entrance as a dozen stormtroopers came bustling through the hangar entrance with more behind, two were hauling in a deployable blaster turret. Ashoka wasted no time pulling out her twin grey sabers as the first volley of blaster fire came screaming towards them. She managed to repel those shots shielding herself, Drew, and the cargo along with its escorts, however Drew realized that was only a small number compared to what would be coming their way any moment. He drew his own saber from his waist, he felt a little better with the cold metal underneath his fingers paired with the faint hum of his own grey blade. Through the force he could sense the number of blaster bolts scorching the air as they raced in his direction. With the force guiding his reflexes he was able to repel four different shots that would have injured their crew, but only barely they ricocheted off at random. As they reached the eagle still deflecting shot after shot, the steps dropped, Drew chanced a quick glance behind him and saw a gruff looking man and a young woman racing down the steps to secure the cargo. Meanwhile, the Jedi stood in front deflecting seemingly endless bolts.

Ashoka was the only reason they were still alive, it took everything he had left to merely manage to stay alive, he still couldn't help but be in awe of his master carefully deflecting every shot she could back towards an imperial, favoring anyone who attempted to get on the blaster turret. Just when he didn't think he could hold out any longer he heard a shout from the ship calling them aboard. As one they began backing up towards the ramp of the ship still deflecting what they could, some bolts managing to slip past and hammering the ship sending sparks raining down around them. Their imperial escorts were standing blankly amongst a hail of blaster fire waiting for further instruction, until the one man Drew had seized control of raised his blaster and pointed it at Drew mere feet away, he knew he'd be unable to deflect it. Without a thought he took a step forward and sliced the man in two from his midsection. Immediately the thought of what he had just done to the man whose life he had seen flash through his mind like a live play, paralyzed him.


	3. Chapter 3: A New Destination

Drew could dimly feel a hand on the back of his robes yanking him back away from a hail of blaster fire, he could feel the heat of the bolt singing his hair as it burned its way through the air where he had been a mere moment ago. This shook him out of his fog enough to begin backing up the ramp of the shuttle defending himself more on instinct than conscious thought. He had hardly reached the top of the steps before they were being raised behind him, as the hatch closed he could see the ship rising higher and higher seeing rooftops before the sliver of light between the ramp closed with a final crunch of metal against metal.

Before Drew had a chance to gain his bearings Ashoka was disappearing down a long hallway in pursuit of the bearded man that had assisted them loading the cargo, leaving him alone in the hold with the young woman who was busily securing the shipment then fluidly moving onto taking stock of its contents. She hardly seemed to give him a second glance between tasks, which was fine with him as he slumped bodily against the wall, the images he had seen burned into his mind like a physical brand. The trooper wasn't evil, he'd had a family, a wife, a kid...

"And I killed him" he thought to himself, grief threatening to overwhelm him. His life had been littered with death and hardship, but the soulless eyes in the masks of the stormtroopers had always given him an odd sense of comfort, a certainty that what he was up against was pure evil and that he was training to chase away the darkness with light, but that wasn't the case with this man he was forced into darkness just as Drew had been throughout his life, plunged into a pit of pain and despair at losing his family.

"Are you a really a jedi?" A loud high pitched voice called out, breaking him away from his cycle of self-loathing thoughts. The woman had finished tending to the cargo and was standing a mere few feet away from him her disbelief apparent upon her face. He realized she was roughly his age maybe a few years older and quite attractive, even with her bright blue eyes shining through a grime streaked face and her blonde hair tied back into sweat stained bundle.

"Well no not really, I'm just a learner but my master is a jedi." he replied back wearily.

"I've heard all the jedi are dead."

"Well most of us, but not all."

"Is it true the jedi believe they can control the force?"

He decided rather than continuing this line of questioning into the validity of his claim, the quickest way to end this conversation would be a demonstration. The woman was holding a wrench loosely in her hand, after prying apart the lid of the container. He closed his eyes, extending his hand and reaching out with tendrils of the force, feeling them close around the wrench and willed it move, flying to his hand. Before he opened his eyes he could feel the cold steel of the instrument pressed into his palm. Had he been in a better mood the look upon the young lady's face might've made him laugh. A mixture of fascination and abject horror had combined into one painful looking expression, replacing the disbelief that had been there moments before. He took a step towards her and she took one step away, he held out the wrench she seemingly realized he wasn't out to harm her and took the wrench from him sheepishly.

"Thanks. My name is Cassandra, everyone calls me Cass." She muttered embarrassed.

"I'm Drewsylc my master calls me Drew and she's Ashoka."

There was a pregnant pause before Drew felt compelled to speak again more so out of a desire to break the uncomfortable silence than an need for information.

"What are you guys? Black market smugglers?"

This time she pretended not to hear him, busying herself once again with the cargo pretending to take inventory once more. Thankfully, before he had to repeat himself he was saved by Ashoka returning into the cargo bay motioning for him to join her. She led him down the corridor and into a room off on the left hand side, presumably a lunch hall based on the pair of long tables placed inside. She gently guided him into a seat, striking him as oddly kind for her before, she sat next to him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay? Taking a life is never an easy thing to experience." She asked him, lines of worry stretching across her face.

He was taken aback by this, he was expecting some kind of status report, a plan of action for what was to come next. This somehow was the last thing he wanted to do he'd almost prefer getting shot at again.

"I'm fine" he lied, doing his best to avoid his master's gaze.

They sat there for a while in silence, Drew fixed his eyes on his hands he could feel his master's gaze burning a whole into the side of his head somewhere above his left ear. He risked a glance at her face and could almost swear he saw a tear glistening in the corner of her eye before he quickly looked back down.

"So what's next, who are these people?" He asked once again trying to escape from an uncomfortable conversation he had been trapped in.

"They are part of a crew opposing the empire based on Dantooine, they're going to use this shipment to better arm their members, and begin fighting the empire head on." She explained to him, clearly reluctant to change the topic.

"What are we going to do after we drop this off then?

"That's another thing I wanted to talk with you about, I spoke with Geraint-"

"Big guy with the beard?" He interjected, cutting her off.

He saw several expressions flash across his master's face beginning with annoyance, then shifting into exasperation, quickly chased away by a hint of amusement, before finally giving way to a neutral expression.

"Yes the big guy with the beard", she continued with a heavy sigh "He's asked us if we'll join them on Dantooine and help them with their raids against the imperials. I think we should, your training has reached a point I feel comfortable having you in the field without constant supervision and I think it would do you some good to get more real world experience."

He paused for a minute thinking about the man he had killed on their previous outing and for a moment considered demanding they go back to training, he didn't want to be put into a situation like that again, he wanted to hide from the world.

"Off to Dantooine we go" he heard his voice say in a hollow defeated tone.


	4. Prisoner

Drew quickly learned the crew of the Blue Eagle was a lively and loud bunch. He had barely recovered from Cassandra's line of questioning before a pair of human twins named Ja'mar and Rhan descended upon him each taking turns hurling questions about the Jedi and repeatedly requesting to borrow his lightsaber for "experiments". He was beginning to think he might have to use it on them before he was rescued by Geraint passing by to check on Cassandra's progress taking inventory. He took full advantage of their distraction, slipping off quietly to explore the vessel.

The Blue Eagle was a moderately sized freighter with offensive capabilities, but Drew could tell this ship was a home for the crew. A substantial portion of the ship was dedicated to large cabins that even from the hallway Drew could tell were as different as each crew member. He made his way down the long winding metallic corridors finding very little of interest but providing him with every opportunity to play the scene in the space port over and over. No matter how many times he tried to distract himself the image of that man smiling with his family appeared every time he closed his eyes, only chased away by the image of the stormtrooper's lifeless body falling back, his armor scorched by his lightsaber. HIS lightsaber. Finally, he could take it no longer, he collapsed in the hallway, burying his head in his hands as he felt tears stinging his eyes. Sobs wracked his body as the tears streamed down his cheeks, "I killed him... he had a family and I murdered him." He sobbed quietly.

"Argh well who hasn't killed a family man or two? There's no point in crying about it." A gruff voiced called from farther down the hallway. Drew was so startled he momentarily forgot his guilt, rising cautiously to his feet and placing his hand on his lightsaber. An irrational sense of unease had crept into Drew, he thought he could trust the crew of the Blue Eagle or at least Ashoka did and that was good enough for him, but something about that voice made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. When he rounded the corner, he came across the airlock with the familiar hum of a ray shield maintaining the pressure in the ship, and there trapped inside of the airlock was an incredibly dirty looking man lying on the floor. Drew noticed he was human but covered in so many various tubes and garbs he could've passed for any number of alien species.

"Who are you?" Drew asked with a mixture of fear and disgust churning his stomach, after all the shield did nothing to nullify the man's offensive smell.

"The name is Zet Yarin, who are you little Jedi?" the man replied.

Drew hurriedly made an effort to be sure his lightsaber was completely covered by his cloak. The man calling himself Zet chuckled and said,

"Don't worry little Jedi your secret is safe with me for now anyway, but you might want to watch out for your comrades. They appear to not know how to keep quiet about... well anything really."

"How long have you been here?"

"A day, a week, a month? Who knows it's hard to tell after a while." Zet told him, not successfully keeping the bitterness from his voice.

"Why are you locked up? Did you try to stage a mutiny or something?" Drew asked as he could feel his uneasiness grow.

Zet laughed, a deeply unsettling humorless laugh, "Me? Throw my lot in with this ragtag bunch? You're funny kid, where have you been? I needed a laugh like that. No quite far from it actually, they tried to steal a very valuable speeder from my client, I stopped them of course, killed one of their men, but the big one managed to wound and capture me."

Drew felt the blood drain from his face before quickly walking away from the man, determined to reach the common room and rejoin the others. Zet's cruel laughter following him down the hallway. By the time he reached the common room he was practically sprinting and nearly ran headlong into Cassandra.

"Wow! Where's the fire?" She asked, spinning out of his way. Ashoka and Geraint were deep in conversation when he entered but they both stood up and made to grab for him after seeing his pale visage.

"Who is that man?" Drew asked rounding on Geraint.

"What man are you talking about lad?" The older man asked looking alarmed.

"Drew! Settle down and tell us what happened." His master's voice cut through the fear and unease building inside of him. He realized he had shouted at Geraint and the man looked positively frightened.

"I am sorry" he said "sir" he added quickly remembering his manners. He took a deep couple of breaths before recounting his interaction with the prisoner. Ashoka, Geraint, and Cassandra gathering around and hanging onto his every word. When he was finished Geraint's face had hardened considerably and Cassandra seemed to share his unease, his master was expressionless.

"Ah I am sorry you had the misfortune to meet our other bit of cargo. However, I assure you he is completely secure behind the ray shield."

"Who is he Geraint? The senator didn't mention anything about escorting prisoners to me." Ashoka asked. Geraint might not have heard the anger in his voice, she covered it quite well, but Drew knew his master well enough to tell she was furious.

Geraint perhaps did notice her anger as he almost sheepishly replied, "It wasn't the senator's fault we intercepted an imperial transmission with plans to transport unmanned AT-STs. We decided to try to take them for ourselves, the rebellion always needs more firepower. That scum back there was guarding the transport, almost killed on of my guys too."

"He's imperial?" Ashoka asked.

"Strictly speaking, no. He's a bounty hunter frequently on imperial payroll. They appreciate his combination of skill with a blaster and cruelty."

Before anyone could respond to this new bit of information, a tall Mirialan woman entered the common room announcing they were about to arrive on Dantooine.  
"Well, here we go." Drew said under his breath.


End file.
